Whisper Number: What Will Priceline’s Shares Do Post Earnings?

Priceline.com (NASDAQ:PCLN) is expected to report earnings on Thursday, August 8th. The whisper number is $9.28, nine cents behind the analysts’ estimate. Whispers range from a low of $9.05 to a high of $9.63. PCLN has a 64 percent positive surprise history (having topped the whisper in 23 of the 36 earnings reports for which we have data).

Our primary focus is on post earnings price movement. Knowing how likely a stock’s price will move following an earnings report can help you determine the best action to take (long or short). In other words, we look at what happens when the company beats or misses the whisper number expectation.

The table below indicates the average post earnings price movement within a one and thirty trading day timeframe:

The strongest price movement of -4.3 percent comes within twenty trading days when the company reports earnings that beat the whisper number, and -12.4 percent within twenty trading days when the company reports earnings that miss the whisper number. The overall average price move is ‘negative’ (beat the whisper number and see weakness, miss and see weakness) when the company reports earnings.

The table below indicates the most recent earnings reports and short-term price reaction:

The company has reported earnings ahead of the whisper number in four of the past four quarters with a whisper number. In the comparable quarter last year the company reported earnings thirty-seven cents ahead of the whisper number. Following that report the stock realized a 2.3 percent loss in one trading day. Last quarter the company reported earnings forty cents ahead of the whisper number. Following that report the stock realized an 11.3 percent gain in ten trading days. Although recent reports have seen mixed post earnings price movement, the overall historical data indicates the company to be (on average) a ‘negative’ price reactor when the company reports earnings.

John Scherr is the founder and President of WhisperNumber.com, an independent financial research firm focused on earnings expectations. He is a regular contributor to CNBC and Fox Business Network, and has been featured in Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal, and MarketWatch. He is considered a leading expert on ‘whisper numbers’ and post earnings price movement analysis. WhisperNumber.com provides specific earnings trade alerts to take advantage of earnings report price movement with their Whisper Reactors subscription service.